Cushioned box



C. R. WOOD CUSHIONED BOX Aug. 16, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed Jan. l1, 1965 lNveN-ron CHARLES F2. Woon w T T A C. R. WOOD CUSHIONED BOX Aug. 16, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet ,2

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w R mw. ER v ,.N. A H C United States Patent O 3,266,705 CUSHINED BOX Charles Richard Wood, Arlington Heights, Ill., assignor to Republic Packaging Corporation, Chicago, lll., a corporation of Delaware Filed lian. l1, 1965, Ser. No. 424,578 4- Claims. (Cl. 229-14) This invention relates to an improved cushioned box for fragile articles of the type which has a lining of cushioning material having spaced surface projections separated by correspondingly shaped valleys.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a cushioned box of the type described which can be made with la minimum number of parts, preferably two parts, adhesively secured .together to form a composite blank which can readily and quickly be assembled into a completed box.

A related object of the invention is to provide a cushioned box blank which has a completely flat condition where a l-arge number of similar blanks which can be compactly stacked for storage and shipment and can be quickly and easily `folded into completed boxes.

In accordance with the preferred form of the invention, the cushioned box blank is made of only two parts, one being a sheet of cardboard or similar box forming material having a main central portion having four contiguous panels connected together along box corner-forming fold lines. Folding the blank along these fold lines forms a rectangular box body. The blank has additional panels or flaps which form end closing walls and tucking flaps which close off the ends of the box body. The -four contiguous panels of the sheet of box forming material referred to above are most advatnageously overlaid by a single body of cushioning material so that the complete assembly of the blank involved involves merely the single step of adhesively securing the body of cushioning material to the sheet of box forming material. The body of cushioning material preferably has a flat .side which is adhesively secured to the inside surface of the sheet of box forming material. The other side of the body of cushioning material comprises rows of .alternating projections and depressions, the projections of adjacent rows being offset so that the projections of each row are opposite the depressions of the adjaecnt row.

In accordance with the present invention, the body of cushioning material is designed land positioned on the sheet of box forming material so that the rows of projections and depressions thereof extend parallel to the fold lines on the sheet of box forming material and so that the lines of separation between the rows of projections and depressions adjacent the various fold lines fall along the fold lines. Thus, when the sheet of box forming material is folded along the fold lines thereof, the body of cushioning material folds along the lines of juncture between the rows of projections and depressions which offer little or no resistance to the folding thereof. The ready folding of the box blank is further aided by the fact that the offset projections of the body of cushioning material at the corners of the folded box blank nestle within the aforesaid depressions.

The :above and other advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent by making reference to the specification to follow, 4the claims and the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cushioned box blank made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a box formed by folding the box blank of FIG. 1 and securing together certain portions of the panels thereof;

FIGS. 3 through 5 show the progressive folding of the ice cushioned box blank of FIG. 1 along one of the fold lines thereof to form one of the corners of the box;

2 FIG. 6 is a transverse section through the box in FIG.

FIG. 7 is the box of FIG. 6 with au article in place therein.

Referring now to FIG. l, the preferred form of box blank 1 of the present invention there shown is made of only two parts, one a single sheet of box forming material generally indicated by reference numeral 2 and the other being a single body of cushioning material generally indicated by reference numeral 4. The sheet 2 of the box forming material has a main body portion comprising four contiguous panels 2a, 2b, 2c Iand 2d, the spaced pairs of panels 2a-2c and 21a-2e being the same size. The panel 2a has centered on the side margins thereof a pair of semicircular finger-receiving slots 9--9. The panels 2a, 2b, 2c `and 2d .are separated by fold lines 6 which are formed by scoring the inner surface of the sheet of box forming material. The sheet 2 has an end panel 2e separation from the panel 2a by -a fold line 7 also formed by scoring the inner surface of the sheet. Extending from the lateral margins of the panel 2e are side flaps 2f-2f, the width of the side flaps being somewhat sm-aller than the width of the corresponding panel 2e. The panel 2b has side flaps 2f-2j" extending from the side margins thereof which flaps correspond in size and function to the side flaps 2f-2f.

The panel 2c has extending from the sides thereof cover-forming panels 2g--2g which are approximately the size and width of the panel 2c. Extending from the outer margins of the panels Zg-Zg are narrow tucking flaps 2li- 211. The flaps Zf-Zf, 2f-2f and 2h are separated from one another from the associated panels 2a and 2c by scored fold lines 10 on the inner surface of the sheet 2.

',.lhe four contiguous panels 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d, which ultimately form two pairs of parallel opposite side walls of the -box to be described, are overlaid with a single body 4 of cushioning material. The body 4 of cushioning material extends over most of the area of the four panels except for a narrow strip 2d of the outermost panel 2d. falso, although of less significance, the body 4 of cushionlng material is preferably spaced slightly within the side margins of the various panels to which they are secured to, among other things, expose the linger-receiving recesses 99 on the panel 2a,

The body 4 of cushioning material most advantageously has a dat side 12 which is adhesively secured to the sheet 2 of box forming material except in the regions adjacent the side marginal portions of the panel 2a so that spaces are provided between the body 4 of cushioning material and the panel 2a into which the tucking flaps 2h-2h may be extended in the completed box. The opposite side of the body of cushioning material comprises parallel rows 14-1, 14-2 etc. of alternating projections 16 and depressions 18 hav-ing a similar contour. The shapes of the projections and depressions are somewhat rounded like truncated pyramids, as best shown in FIGS. 3 through 7. The alternating projections and depressions of adjacent rows are offset, so that the projections of the various rows are opposite the similarly shaped depressions of the adjacent rows. One important aspect of the present invention lay in the relationship of the body of cushioning material and its projections and depressions to the panels 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d of the sheet 2 of the box forming material. To this end, the rows of projections and depressions are arranged parallel to the fold lines 6, and a pair of rows of projections and depressions straddle each parallel fold line 6 so that the confronting margins thereof fall along a line which is co-extensive with the fold line 6. In such case, the body 4 of cushioning material does not interfere with the folding of the sheet 2 of box forming material along the various fold lines 6 to form a completed box and, upon such folding, the projections 16 on one side of each fold line nestle within -the depressions '18 on the opposite side of the fo'ld line as illustrated in FIG. 5.

Reference should now be made to FIG. 2 which illustrates a completed box made by folding the blank shown in FIG. 1 along the aforementioned fold lines 6. Before the blank is folded into a completed box, an article' 2d is placed upon a portion of cushioning material overlying one of the panels 2a, 2b, 2c, or 2d and the blank is then folded around the article. In the process of formin-g the box from the blank, the end panel 2e is folded over the panel 2d, as best shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and the flaps Z-Zf and 2]-2f are folded in and the coverforming panels 2g-2g brought around in superimposed relationship to the flaps 2f-2f and 2f-2f. The box is locked into a closed assembled condition by ing-in the flaps Zh-Zh in the spaces provided therefor between the body cushioning material 4 and the panel 2a. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the strip 2d' of the panel 2d which is not overlaid by the body 4 of cushioning material provides clearance for the body of cushioning material at the outer margins of the panel 2a.

In the completed box, the pairs of panels 2a-2c and 2b-2d form two pairs of spaced confronting and parallel box walls having the body 4 of cushioning material on the inside thereof. The projections 16 of the body of cushioning covering the confronting pairs of walls of the box are in spaced relation. The projections 16 engaged by the article 20 are compressed and the projections 16 which fall immediately outside of the margins of the article will, therefore, act as abutments preventing the article from moving laterally within the box.

It .should be understood that numerous modifications can be made in the most preferred form of the invention described without deviating from the broader aspects of the invention.

I claim:

1. A cushioned box for fragile articles, said box comprising: a box body having a four-cornered main body portion formed by a first pair of spaced confronting walls permanently joined at their side margins by a second pair of spaced parallel walls extending at their side margins by a second pair of spaced parallel walls extending generally transversely of the first pair of walls, and end walls closing olf the ends of said body portion, and means forming a cushioned lining on the inside surfaces of said first and second pairs of .spaced walls, said lining being formed by a single body of flexible, resilient, cushioning material having an outwardly facing side secured to and being folded at the corners -of the box to follow the contours of the inside surfaces -of the box, the inwardlly facing side of sa-id body of cushioning material comprising parallel rows of alternating projections and depressions extending parallel to the corners of the box, the alternating projections and depressions of adjacent rows being offset so that each projection of one row -is opposite a depression of the adjacent row, the folds of said body of cushioning material at the corners of the box falling along the lines of juncture between adjacent rows of projections and depressions where the projections of one of the rows adjacent each box corner are nestled within the depressions of the other row.

2. The cushion box of claim `1 wherein end walls comprise cover-forming panels extending from the lateral margins of said first pair of walls, and tucking aps at the lateral margins of the cover-forming panels which are tucked into spaces provided between the body of cushioning material and said first pair of confronting walls.

3. A blank for a cushioned box comprising: a single sheet of box-forming material having a main central portion composed of at least four contiguous panels connected together along box corner-forming fold lines for forming a rectangular box body when folded along the fold lines and connected together, and extension panels extending from said main central portion of the sheet for forming closure walls at the opposite ends of the box body; and a single body of flexible, resilent, cushioning material having an outwardly facing side secured to and overlaying said four contiguous panels of said sheet of box-forming material, the outer side of said body of cushioning material comprising parallel rows of alternating projections and depressions extending parallel to said fold lines, the projections of the adjacent rows being offset so each projection of one row is opposite a depression of the adjacent row, and the points of juncture between adjacent rows of the projections and depressions falling along the fold lines of the contiguous panels of the sheet of box body forming material which the body of cushioning material overlays, wherein the sheet of box-forming material and the cushioning material can be readily folded together as a unit along said fold lines and wherein the projections on the cushioning material straddling the fold lines Will be nestled within depressions thereof.

4. The cushioned box blank of claim 2 wherein one of said panels overlaid by the body of cushioning material has laterally extending cover-forming panels terminating in tucking flaps at the outer margins thereof, and the panel of the sheet of box-forming material which is spaced one panel away from said one panel being of the same size and shape as vsaid one panel to form an opposite side of the box when the blank is folded, the portion of the body of cushioning material covering the former panel being unconnected thereto at the side margins thereof to leave gaps for the reception of said tucking aps when the blank .is folded into a completed box.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,941,708 6/1960 Crane et al. 229-2.5 2,979,246 4/1961 Liebeskind 229-14 3,142,406 7/1964 Kantor 220-10 3,145,837 8/1964 Lewis et al 206-46 3,166,227 1/1965 Ragnow 229-14 3,181,766 5/1965 Kane et al. 229-14 GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CUSHIONED BOX FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES, SAID BOX COMPRISING: A BOX BODY HAVING A FOUR-CORNERED MAIN BODY PORTION FORMED BY A FIRST PAIR OF SPACED CONFRONTING WALLS PERMANENTLY JOINED AT THEIR SIDE MARGINS BY A SECOND PAIR OF SPACED PARALLEL WALLS EXTENDING AT THEIR SIDE MARGINS BY A SECOND PAIR OF SPACED PARALLEL WALLS EXTENDING GENERALLY TRANSVERSELY OF THE FIRST PAIR OF WALLS, AND END WALLS CLOSING OFF THE ENDS OF SAID BODY PORTION, AND MEANS FORMING A CUSHIONED LINING ON THE INSIDE SURFACES OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND PAIRS OF SPACED WALLS, SAID LINING BEING FORMED BY A SINGLE BODY OF FLEXIBLE, RESILIENT, CUSHIONING MATERIAL HAVING AN OUTWARDLY FACING SIDE SECURED TO AND BEING FOLDED AT THE CORNERS OF THE BOX TO FOLLOW THE CONTOURS OF THE INSIDE SURFACES OF THE BOX, THE INWARDLY FACING SIDE OF SAID BODY OF CUSHIONING MATERIAL COMPRISING PARALLEL ROWS OF ALTERNATING PROJECTIONS AND DEPRESSIONS EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE CORNERS OF THE BOX, THE ALTERNATING PROJECTIONS AND DEPRESSIONS OF ADJACENT ROWS BEING OFFSET SO THAT EACH PROJECTION OF ONE ROW IS OPPOSITE A DEPRESSION OF THE ADJACENT ROW, THE FOLDS OF SAID BODY OF CUSHIONING MATERIAL AT THE CORNERS OF THE BOX FALLING ALONG THE LINES OF JUNCTURE BETWEEN ADJACENT ROWS OF PROJECTIONS AND DEPRESSIONS WHERE THE PROJECTIONS OF ONE OF THE ROWS ADJACENT EACH BOX CORNER ARE NESTLED WITHIN THE DEPRESSIONS OF THE OTHER ROW. 